estancia oil spill

Estancia oil spill poses danger to teachers and students

At the height of supertyphoon Yolanda (international name:Haiyan) on November 8, a power barge operated by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) slammed against houses in Barangay Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo. This resulted in death, displacement and continuing endangerment to thousands of residents in the massive oil spill that followed.

Two months after, the government has still to finish the clean up.

Teachers and students at Botongon Elementary School continue to hold classes up to two hours a day in the midst of clean up operations in their school, exposing them to various health risks.

Fisherfolk sues Aquino et al on Estancia oil spill

“The heavy oil spill, which occurred during the height of super typhoon Yolanda, is not a fortuitous event nor an act of God, but a result of sheer criminal negligence and gross incompetence of the Office of the President, other key departments of the executive branch of the government and the state-owned Napocor which operates Power Barge No. 103, the source of oil spill.”